With its first longer release after quite a few years, Crossfaith first gives fans exactly what they have been waiting for: their own unique brand of brutal and fun metalcore, fused with a massive dose of excellent, club-friendly electronica, but then, at the end, leaves them puzzled, with question marks hovering over their heads.

A lot happened with the band since their latest full-length, 2018’s Ex_Machina… which well, was not necesseraly their best release to date. It felt tired and sounded as, by going for a generally more “radio friendly” sound, they were trying to live up to expectation nobody ever wanted them to live up to (fans speculated that this was at least in part due to label pressure). They probably also felt that this isn’t really the good direction for them and after a bit of off-time from the studios, with 2020’s Species EP they returned to the right path. They followed that up with another EP and a series of digital singles (some of those did not make it to this album, but still more than worthy to check out) and finally, earlier this year, they announced AЯK, their first new album in five years. So, expectations were high.

Read our exclusive interview with Crossfaith from early 2020.

As most of the new tracks from the last four years, the majority of AЯK finds the band at their best, with a mixture of extremely heavy bangers and more groovy and fun tunes, all with an electronic twist and some additional extra, that makes each and every track special. There are some obvious standout tracks: the lead single Zero, Warriors with MAH of SiM (who, besides adding his trademark vocal style, also brings along some of the crazy reggae vibes of his band), God Speed (featuring UK duo Wargasm adding their fun dance rock flavour) and especially the awkwardly titled, but simply stellar DV;MM¥ SY5T3M…, which is not just the most brutal song of this release by far (at points crossing over to deathcore territories), but one of the most brutal one by the band in general. It’s a very nice surprise that takes the already solid release to the next level. But then, a bit later, another unexpected twist takes the album to a very, very different direction.

The following track, L.A.M.N. is still a great example of the band utilizing guest vocalists (this time UK’s Bobby Wolfgang) to twist their style around a bit, but then… Night Waves comes along and we are left puzzled. Because this track is pure vaporwave: a melodic, retro popish tune, straight out of the ’80s, complete with brooding synths and sappy singing. When it started I thought that it must be an intro or skit or something, but it is not. And it isn’t just a one-off detour either, as the next one, Afterglow is the same style, just without the ’80s vibe. And while the closing Canopus brings some of the heaviness back for a while, it then turns out to be a follow-up to Afterglow and reverts to its balladish style by the end. And well, while I do not at all have anything against vaporwave and well, ballads can be a good thing once in a while too, here they just derail the whole album. They are so drastically different not just from the rest of this release, but from pretty much everything the band has done in the past, that we are left puzzled about the band’s intentions and future directions.

Still, even with this strange final section (and more so without it), AЯK is an excellent release, showing that the band is still capable of reinventing its own unique style.

AЯK
2024.06.26
UNFD / digital, cd, vinyl
01.The Final Call
02.Zero
03.My Own Salvation
04.God Speed feat. Wargasm
05.Warriors feat. MAH of SiM
06.Headshot!
07.DV;MM¥ SY5T3M…
08.L.A.M.N feat. Bobby Wolfgang
09.Night Waves
10.Afterglow
11.Canopus